ACCION International

Overview
ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need - microenterprise loans, business training, and other financial services - to work their way out of poverty. A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION was founded in 1961 and issued the first microloan in 1973 in Brazil. ACCION International's partner microfinance institutions today are providing loans as low as $100 to poor women and men entrepreneurs in 22 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and in the U.S. Since 1992, ACCION and its partners have disbursed $7.6 billion in microloans to more than 4.7 million borrowers, 65 percent of whom are women. Ninety-seven percent of these loans have been repaid. For the past two years, ACCION has been among 25 organizations awarded the Social Capitalist Award by Fast Company magazine for "using business excellence to engineer social change."

ACCION International acts as a manager or consultant to many regulated microfinance institutions around the world by providing services to microfinance institutions that then provide microloans to the ultimate clients. ACCION also provides assistance in operations management with the goal of helping microfinance institutions become more efficient. ACCION assists their partners with marketing, research, and technicalities of law, in addition to providing some funding to their partners.

Countries Served

Angola

Argentina

Benin

Guatemala

Nicaragua

United States

Bolivia

Haiti

Nigeria

Venezuela

Brazil

Honduras

Paraguay

Zimbabwe

Colombia

India

Peru

Ecuador

Mexico

Tanzania

El Salvador

Mozambique

Uganda

ACCION Partners:

Mexico:

ADMIC (Asesoria Dinamica a Microempresas) gives loans and provides business training to small business owners. ACCION recently secured funds for ADMIC to install a microfinance information system in their office; an ACCION advisor will help them run it for the next two years.
Financiera Compartamos offers microloans to the disadvantaged in Mexico City and the surrounding areas. ACCION has been involved in developing this institution into a regulated bank by improving its efficiency, customer service, technical knowledge and managerial skills.

United States:

ACCION USA is a private, nonprofit organization that provides loans and other financial services to low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs who are unable to access bank credit for their businesses. Since its inception ACCION USA has disbursed $10.8 million in loans ranging from $500 to $25,000 to entrepreneurs in New England, Atlanta and Miami.

El Salvador:

Apoyo Integral offers financial products and services to the less fortunate. Recently, ACCION has assumed management role of the lending institution as it switches to a regulated institution.

Guatemala:

Génesis Empresarial offers consulting, business training and microloans to its clients. ACCION has been working with this institution to improve their business processes and services to their microfinance clients

Honduras:

FINSOL is the first microfinance institution in Honduras that offers credit and other financial services to almost the entire country. ACCION is involved in improving their lending methodology.

Nicaragua:

FAMA (Fundación Para el Apoyo a la Microempresa) provides credit and training to microentrepreneurs. ACCION is currently providing technical assistance, improving their financial dealings and other managerial aspects of the institution.

Argentina:

ACCION is establishing a partnership with Banco Columbia.

Haiti:

SOGESOL is a branch of SOGEBANK, the largest commercial bank in Haiti. Although SOGEBANK provides microloans to the self-employed, SOGESOL manages the loans. Currently, ACCION acts as the Commercial Manager for the institution.

Brazil:

Crediamigo (Banco de Nordeste) gives microloans to individuals in the poorest regions in Brazil. ACCION is working in conjunction with Crediamigo to strengthen its loan giving operations in the cities of Salvador and Recife.
Real Microcredito, an initiative of Banco ABN AMRO Real, gives loans to small business owners who lack access to other forms of credit. ACCION is connected to Real Microcredito through a 20 percent share in Banco ABN AMRO Real

Bolivia:

BancoSol offers small loans to microentrepreneurs and small business owners. ACCION co-established BancoSol and has been working to expand their services and attract new investors since 1992.

Colombia:

Cooperativa Emprender acts as an umbrella organization for 36 other microfinance institutions. ACCION aids the organization in managerial and business aspects.
FINAMERICA acts as a lending company to the poorest people in Colombia. ACCION has been aiding them in their lending methodologies.
Fundacion Maria Santo Domingo not only provides microcredit to the poor, but they are involved in improving living conditions for destitute families and building homes. ACCION helps in providing business training to the organization and microloan recipients.

Ecuador:

Banco Solidario provides financial services to the microenterprise sector. ACCION aids this institution through governance practices as well as development of new types of loans.
CREDIFE (Banco del Pichincha) is dedicated to the poor by offering them a wide variety of financial services. ACCION is a shareholder of this organization and also helps CREDIFE personnel in developing new products.
FED (Fundacion Ecuatoriana de Desarrollo) offers business training and microloans to their clients. Recently, ACCION has helped FED in business training.

Mibanco provides high quality credit and other financial services to low-income microentrepreneurs. ACCION is currently providing technical assistance to Mibanco.

Venezuela:

BanGente is another financial institution that offers credit and training to the self-employed poor. ACCION provides technical assistance to this institution.

Angola:

ACCION is in the process of partnering with a microcredit institution in Angola

Benin:

PADME (Projet d'Appui au Developpement des Micro-Entreprises) provides credit to micro and small business owners who traditionally had no access to credit. ACCION is currently providing technical assistance as PADME switches to a financial institution. They are also providing management and support.

Mozambique:

Tchuma provides credit and saving services to the poor of Mozambique, especially women. ACCION provides technical assistance to this organization by improving the credit process and training supervisors

Nigeria:

ACCION is in the process of partnering with a microcredit institution in Nigeria.

Tanzania:

Akiba Commercial Bank provides lending and saving services to poor microentrepreneurs. ACCION has been involved with Akiba for the past few years providing technical assistance, improvements to the lending process, and business strategy.

Unitus-ACCION Alliance for India was created by ACCION International and Unitus to jump start the process of establishing permanent microcredit institutions in India. Their goal is to establish microfinance institutions and give aid and make improvements to microcredit institutions already in existence.

The ACCION Story
ACCION began as an ordinary charitable organization that sought to improve the lives and communities of the people in Latin America. After ten years of service and aid to these people, they realized that if they wanted their work to be permanent, they would need to do something different. A few members of ACCION in Brazil one day noticed that the majority of the population made their living off of small businesses. The thought occurred to them that they could help these individuals through affordable, small loans. Then with these loans, the people could grow their businesses and improve their lives permanently.

The ACCION Philosophy
ACCION is focused on helping to alleviate poverty all over the world. Realizing that there will never be enough charitable contributions to eliminate poverty, they strive for financial stability.